Rear mounted crane



Feb. 23, 1954 w. A. SCHAICH REAR MOUNTED CRANE Filed 001;. 22, 1951 INVENTOR.

Patented Feb. 23, 1954 Jleathon .LMQtQt Ser entine aims-gnaw '1 ti y iq -ra crmratiqn ofllelaware Y annucatianioetnbergz, 1951,Serial No. 252;549 .i., main. .(Cl. 254x124},

llhisinvent o melate taan imp vedrma ria handlin device, an gnar iclu any area zndu ted o us an it actor h ing-l er llvspaced gpot l te t ailin hi chi l lssthe romancing a plic tien of Ralph E evik and Frederick l -flew er. Se ia IN 23 597Wfi1edJi1ne I aria-assigned t th assignee of this appl cation, there isflisc lcsed and claimed an ,improvedhitch link structure for tractors of the type having a pair. of laterally spaced t ailin r iteh r owe e ited b a built-in h d auli s stem c a ed on the tractor.

It;;is;a;n object of this invention to effectively utili zt emni ue.stnictura cce g u ation-(of:the new tim in hitch -elament islise i u scheming a plication .t sheet t s m lifi wantin -h a ea inqnntedmat hand in (icy-ice, whi h ma canstitnt s :h :c ui r-k, or in the example to be particularly described and illustrated, a crane.

A further object of this: invention is to "provide a cgreatly 'simplified and rmore :economical -.;rear

end crane construction for use with tractors having power-lifted trailing hitch links.

The specific nature of this invention as well as other objects and advantages thereof, will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the attached drawings on which, by way of preferred example only, is illustrated one embodiment of this invention.

On the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of an improved material handling device embodying this invention assembled to the rear portion of a tractor;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 but illustrating the change in angular position of the boom of the material handling device that may be efi'ected by the adjustment provided on the improved device;

Figure 3 is a plan view of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an enlarged scale partial sectional view taken on the plane 4-4 of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is an enlarged scale partial sectional view taken on the plane 55 of Figure 3.

As shown on the drawings:

In Figures 1 through 3, the reference numeral It) refers generally to a well-known type of tractor having rear wheels I2 mounted on a laterally extending rear axle (not shown) confined within an axle housing l4. Atop the rear axle housing I 4 are located a pair of laterally spaced, powerlifted rock arms l6 pivoted or otherwise secured 12 to'depending liftlinks: I11. iszweil-knownra ek arms,.l-6;are operablebyia built-in hydraulicariml tnotvshown) :Laterallyspaced portions ofv the rear. ifiXlE'hQHSP ing I4 located on opposite sides of the central longitudinalplane of the tractorare provideidmith integrally formed. or :rigidl secured attachment bosses 1'20 (Figure :3), while additional laterally spaced brackets 2! iareealso carriedgby-zthe axle housing l4 outwardly ofandlaterally;aligned Wit'hith'eibosses:2 93. Pivotally support sbetmeen the wbOSSGS 2:0 :and: the J brackets 22:! garesa .apa irspf hitch :elements :24 which constitute ;the :fmlwaad elements :of a two-piece hitch l ink, siescribedgan detail in theabove mentioned caspendinsiapplis at on. Bri fly, each :forwara hitchsel m ntae com r i ally spaced upper an jZJQWE la s 6 ndili r nee ivelmwbich ar den ca i fi u at n-taprotid riorwardty, ate d ns lat r l spaced yok i msmm eachsi minatin inal snedllat ta iycb,- attae men vh sse rtfi- The attachment bosses qge spectively mesnt l ma -heirs. :ith cb sse an t rackets 2 nqarriedzb ;theaxle -i.c .i i i -v pivot bolts 30 are laterally aligned and it will'be seen that the forward link element 24 will thus pivot for vertical movement relative to the tractor about the pivotal axis provided by the bolts 30.

The upper and lower forward hitch element plates 26 and 21, respectively, are joined by means of laterally and rearwardly extending interposed vertical webs 3| which impart to the hitch elements a generally channel-shaped configuration. Additional vertical webs 32 may be provided at the extreme rear portion of the plates 26 and 21. The upper plate 26 of each of the forward hitch elements 24 is provided with a pair of closely laterally-spaced upstanding lugs 33 which pivotally connect, as by bolt 36, to the free end of the adjacent depending lift link l1. Thus, each of the forward elements 24 may be elevated or lowered in a vertical plane by actuation of the power-lifted arm l6.

As described in the above referred to co-pending application, a plurality of laterally-spaced. vertical holes 39 are provided in the medial portions of the hitch elements 24. In the hitch link structure of the above referred to co-pending application, selected ones of these laterally-spaced holes are employed for the mounting of rear hitch elements. In accordance with this invention, such holes are conveniently utilized to efiect the mounting of a material handling device 50.

The material handling device 50 comprises a transverse frame member 5| which is preferably of cylindrical or tubular configuration and has its opposite ends respectively received within the channel-shaped portion of the hitch elements 24, and such ends are rigidly secured to the hitch elements 2; by the insertion of removable pin 52 through a selected one of the laterally-spaced holes 39 in the plates 26 and 21. To receive the pin 52, each end of the transverse frame element 5| is provided with a plurality of holes 5m, 5117 and 5lc, each of which are relatively angularly disposed with respect to the other. Accordingly, the transverse frame element 5! may be selectively mounted between the hitch elements 24 in any one of a plurality of relative angular positions about the longitudinal axis of the transverse frame element 5|.

A boom 53 is rigidly secured to the central portions of the transverse frame element 5i and additionally braced by angularly disposed braces 54.

Any desired form of material handling device may be mounted on the free end of the boom 55, but for simplicity, there is shown only a pair of longitudinally spaced hooks 55 which will permit the material handling device 58 to function as a rear end crane.

Obviously, since the material handling device 50 is rigidly secured by the pins 52 to the hitch elements 24, the boom 53 will be raised or lowered concurrently with the movements of the powerlifted hitch elements.

Normally, as illustrated in Figure 1, the transverse frame element 5| will be mounted between the hitch elements 24 in the angular position which produces a substantially longitudinal alignment of the boom 53 with such hitch element. However, if it is desired to increase the lifting capacity of the boom 53, or to lift the load in-close proximity to the rear end of the tractor, then the pins 52 may be respectively inserted in holes 510 which produces an angular disposition of the boom 53 with respect to the hitch elements 24, as illustrated in Figure 2.

From the foregoing description, it is clearly apparent that this invention provides greatly simplified and economical construction of a material handling device for use on tractors having laterally-spaced, power-lifted hitch links.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

For use with a tractor having a pair of laterally spaced, power-lifted trailing hitch elements, each of said hitch elements having a channelshaped rear end portion with vertically spaced plate elements, a material handling device comprising a transverse tubular frame element, a rearwardly projecting boom rigidly secured to the medial portions of said frame element, the ends of said frame element being respectively insertable between said plate elements of said hitch elements, a removable pin traversing each pair of plate elements of said channel-shaped portions, each said end of said frame element having a plurality of relatively angularly disposed holes therein for selectively receiving said pin, thereby selectively varying the angular relationship of said boom relative to the tractor.

WILBUR A. SCHAICH.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,249,658 Kemner July 15, 1941 2,446,584 Green Aug. 10, 1948 2,512,635 Flowers June 27, 1950 2,530,656 Fall Nov. 21, 1950 2,591,435 Hunsaker et a1 Apr. 1, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 14,048 Great Britain June 24, 1903 

